For example, as the nuclear power plant, there is a pressurized water reactor (PWR). The pressurized water reactor uses light water as a nuclear reactor coolant and a neutron moderator, to turn the light water to high-temperature and high-pressure water that does not boil over the entire primary system. The high-temperature and high-pressure water is delivered to a steam generator to generate steam by heat exchange, and the steam is delivered to a turbine generator to generate power. At this time, the steam used for power generation in the turbine generator is cooled in a condenser to become condensate and is returned to the steam generator.
The condenser is provided with an inlet of steam at an upper part of a housing having a hollow shape, and with a discharge port of water (condensate) at a lower part of the housing. The condenser is configured in such a manner that an inlet water chamber is provided on one side of the housing and an outlet water chamber is provided on the other side, and a large number of narrow tubes through which the cooling water flows are arranged so as to connect the inlet water chamber and the outlet water chamber to each other. Therefore, the cooling water flows on a steady basis in the narrow tubes, and the steam flowing into the housing from the inlet becomes condensate by heat exchange (cooling) with the cooling water, and is discharged from the discharge port.
In such a condenser, the inlet water chamber and the outlet water chamber are respectively connected with a cooling water pipe via an expansion joint. At the time of occurrence of an earthquake or the like, the respective expansion joints absorb relative movement between the inlet water chamber and the outlet water chamber, and the respective cooling water pipes, thereby ensuring quake resistance.
As a device that prevents an excessive load from acting on a steel mount during operation of the steam turbine plant, for example, there is a device described in Patent Literature 1 described below. An installation method of the steam turbine plant described in Patent Literature 1 and an apparatus including the plant is such that a steel mount on which the steam turbine and a power generator are fixed is supported on a base mount via a spring mechanism and a vibration damper.
Conventionally, quake resistance is ensured by connecting the cooling water pipe to the inlet water chamber and the outlet water chamber via the expansion joints to absorb relative movement between the cooling water pipe and the inlet water chamber, and the outlet water chamber by the expansion joints. However, it is desired to further improve the quake resistance with respect to occurrence of a large earthquake in the future. In Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-003708 A, the steel mount is supported on the base mount by the spring mechanism and the vibration damper, and the technique described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-003708 A does not improve the quake resistance of the condenser.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a condenser that can improve quake resistance by suppressing relative displacement between water chambers and pipes.